Selected Project 1
The Broken Dreams Club
Eunice Pang
The Broken Dreams Club calls for attention to the reverse of priorities, where designers look into advocating a culture that promotes more democratic forms of communication, and provokes the desire in designers to take up projects that are more worthwhile and meaningful to them.
How is the project proposal interesting and feasible?
In my opinion, the project proposal done up by Eunice is very interesting as it concerns us designers, and makes us think about our attitude when we work in the design industry. Nowadays, graphic designers do design works for clients "just because" they design it according to the client's needs while following the company's brand DNA. It doesn't really feel as if we have freedom to design what we want, because of the rise of commercialism, and we are often seen as the problem solver for their trivial matters, which meant that we probably aren't all that important to the society. We as designers are closing an eye to this situation and leaving the problems under the rug, waiting for a time to solve it "one day". I don't think this is the attitude that we should have if we want to work in the design industry in the future. Before we dive into all this, we should think about what kind of a designer we are going to be, our working principles as well as our ideals of design.
Overall I think that the project is feasible as I can clearly see it as a legit thing happening in the future. Though the amount of things needed aren't much, it is very impactful if you choose to take a second glance at it. Should this happen one day, I will definitely join and support it. This project really has lots potential and can be improved on further as well.
An interactive sign-up form, as if taking a pldge or oath, which I felt was cool and relates to the target audience
What are the key elements or factors in the project development that results in the success of the project?
I think the fact that Eunice interviewed people on their opinion of their design ideals as well as what kind of designer they would want to be in the future, brings about impact to us designers, as it makes us ponder about the questions she interviewed as well. Reading on the different answers given by the interviewees, it helps to bring readers to see the development in Eunice's way of thinking, and her approach in tackling this particular problem. She also created little badges, stamps and pamphlets to promote The Broken Dreams Club. I feel that by doing this, the club will be more easily known, because starting from the community is important and that it responds to the needs of the people concerned. It also makes the club members feel more special and exclusive, and hence they will support this even more.
This is also an interactive piece of paper which allows the audience to think about their design ideals, and write down one thing that they didn't want to lose in design. It helps to guide them in the direction that the club is going into as well. It's like a one-by-one step at a time thing, and this would be the second step after signing up.
This is actually a book that contains a collection of the different kinds of trivial works that we designers are stuck with doing in the design industry, instead of doing design work that we really love
This is the creative process journal containing all the ideation and design processes of Janet. It is also interesting to look into Janet's way of thinking in tackling this problem.
A book that is meant for the audience to read, which evokes all sorts of emotions and makes them think about their role as designers in the society. Some might find it a subjective topic to be discussed on, whereas others might be interested in it and be compelled to read more, and eventually join the club, like myself.
This is actually a small pamphlet that shows the interview in word form. There is actually a series of 8 pamphlets. For the first pamphlet, it explains why she is doing the interview, followed by pamphlet 2-7 which shows her interviewing different people. It was actually interesting to read on the interviewee's answers and see what kind of designer they are going to be, as well as what their design ideals are. Lastly, for the final pamphlet, it is sort of a conclusion and thank you note to everyone who helped and was involved in her project.
Do you have problem understanding the project just by reading the project objective or synopsis? How is it effective or ineffective? Are the deliverables or intent obvious? Is it too long/too short?
The project objective or synopsis wasn't that difficult to understand. It was quite simple and understandable. The synopsis also gives about just enough information for readers to expect and imagine what they are going to see for the final work. The synopsis is doing a great job in being effective for aiding in the undrstanding of the final work. While I was there, I saw that there are some people who view Eunice's works quickly, and rely on the project synopsis itself while browsing through the works, and so Eunice's description is very useful to refer to from time to time.
The project objective or synopsis wasn't that difficult to understand. It was quite simple and understandable. The synopsis also gives about just enough information for readers to expect and imagine what they are going to see for the final work. The synopsis is doing a great job in being effective for aiding in the undrstanding of the final work. While I was there, I saw that there are some people who view Eunice's works quickly, and rely on the project synopsis itself while browsing through the works, and so Eunice's description is very useful to refer to from time to time.
Selected Project 2
Blue Sloth
Janet Chia Yao Hui
Challenging the dichotomy between work and play in today's increasingly stressful office environments. Blue Sloth is a project that hopes to break the monotony of work processes, by celebrating and encouraging fun in the workplace, towards a more enjoyable work experience.
This is Janet's creative process journal where she documents her concepts, progress and design processes to achieve her final works
How is the project proposal interesting and feasible?
The project proposal is interesting because first, it relates to everybody who are working, or are soon to be working. Secondly, the fact that she made use of vibrant colours, typography and illlustration that is very striking, attracts people to browse through her works. Thirdly, the project isn't some ruse, all the things that she mentioned in her introduction book to play at work is true as gained from her interviews, findings and research, hence it can be trusted. Lastly, the project itself is very feasible and doesn't cost much just to help the target audience with their problems so it is a big advantage. It even appeals to someone like me, who is still a student. Therefore, I believe this project will have a great impact (in a good way) on the working force should this be implemented in the future.
A poster on introducing the matter and encouraging people to take a break and beat work stress. This is basically the first step in spreading the word to everyone.
After the previous poster introduces the issue to the target audience, this poster will be put up to encourage the office workers to take a chill pill with the office kit that helps them to take short breaks from time to time
And so, this book then introduces the target audience to play at work. It also acts as an instruction manual to guide them to start on it.
List of fun items or the kind of fun environment that is encouraged in the office, after doing research to gain insights and findings
What are the key elements or factors in the project development that results in the success of the project?
The key elements in the project would be the printed materials, which consists of the pamphlets, posters and the items in the packaging. The whole project itself is quite interactive. It allows the reader to read up on an instruction manual in the form of a book, which explains on how to incorporate play at work. The pamphlets and posters are also there to remind them on what they are reading about, and encourage people to have fun at work and beat the monday blues as well. Janet also conducted interviews, which I feel is important and necessary for this project to work, in order to gain insights to create the instruction manual and help the target audience with their problem. This project is very relatable, not only to designers, but also to people outside of the design industry. Based on my experience during internship, I didn't exactly work in a design company, but I worked as a graphic designer there. Despite that, the office environment was made to be fun and relaxed. They even have a gaming corner, a sofa to sleep on whenever one was tired and blasted music where they sang along to it while working. I felt that having these fun elements at a workplace is really important because it actually boosts our creativity, concentration and helps us create better ideas after taking a short break. This way we can balance work and play, and have an enjoyable time while working. It makes you look forward to go to work everyday which is a good thing especially for those who feel stressed of their work. All in all, I feel that this project is successful in solving the target audience's problems.
This is the small pamphlet introducing play at work for those who are hearing of this for the first time
A small brochure on the interviews Janet has conducted
This is how it looks like when it is opened up. It shows what goes into the interview, while looking at the big picture. It is short, easy to read, and is relatable to everyone.
Do you have problem understanding the project just by reading the project objective or synopsis? How is it effective or ineffective? Are the deliverables or intent obvious? Is it too long/too short?
The project synopsis is simple and concise, it goes straight to the point. The only thing that I feel could be improved on the description is, to use simpler words that generally everyone knows of and understand. For instance, the word, 'dichotomy' was a word that I hadn't heard of before. It gets troublesome when I have to whip up my phone to find out the meaning, just so that I can understand the sentence before delving into the works itself. Other than that, I think the synopsis is good as it is brief and effective, and at the same time included hints of how the project goes. It is also not too long and is easy to digest which is good, especially after seeing other graduates' works which gets very tiring after a while.
These are some of the items in the office kit for the workers to take breaks with
These items are all so creative and interactive. It is really nostalgic and relates to everybody who has this office kit. Take the right most item for example. Janet simply puts fake green grass into the bottle that says 'take an eye break'. It is really funny and interesting how she made use of what we learnt in primary school, where they told us that we should look at green things when our eye gets tired for around 15 minutes.
Reflection & Inights
Overall, I really enjoyed going on this trip to Lasalle, and getting to see all the works done by the graduates. Some were really interesting, which I have posted 2 of it above, whereas some were really boring and mundane. Though there were some works that were neither good nor bad, I try not to aim for that standard, and achieve for a greater one.
Insight 1
I realised that the unsuccessful projects was due to the graduate not having enough time to complete the project, the topic the graduate chose to work on was boring, or either because of the graduate not putting out enough things and materials to interact with the audience. I believe that looking through these works are important as well, so that we will be able to learn the mistake and find what was lacking in these projects, so as to not repeat the same mistake again in our final year project later on.
Insight 2
The successful projects on the other hand were successful because they did a lot of research, findings and interviews in order to make their project work. They made use of creative things related to the project to attract the audience and enable them to interact with it. They also used techniques that they specialise in to make their work shine and stand out more as well. After reflecting on these projects above, I have taken note of the things that makes it such a successful project, so that I willl be able to put it to use in my final year project.
Insight 3
For the other bulk of project that were neither successful nor unsuccessful, i felt that they ended up that way because the graduate might have given up halfway, or is tired to continue on. If only they had continued and overcome that big wall, I'm sure it would end up successful or even better than that. They may have faced some circumstances that didn't allow them to climb over that wall, but this has taught me that it is important to manage and plan my schedule properly, in order to not end up as such.
